U4ia: May the Force be With You

So Miranda came home from her mission a couple weeks early to have some surgery, but I have this great excuse to still write our family history down, since her novio is still on his mission in Paris, France for the next year. So until May 9, 2019, I'll still write a missionary letter for our blog posts. =)

LAST LETTER!!! And spiritually speaking, you know what we're saying when we say the subject line, right? We've been praying for you, especially for this week that your last days, travel & transition will be smooth.

Monday, a group of people stopped at the fence and cheered for Spidey while he jumped.

That night, my mom & I went to Derek's last performance of You Know What. He was amazing as ever.

I was so proud of my newsie/Bunsen.

Tuesday, Carlie filmed a project for Creative Filmmaking class. She was a Producer's Assistant, fancy title for errand boy/ pizza bringer.

That night was Taco Tuesday, and as Morgan fried up his burrito, I needed this pic. This is a family classic - a velvet cape that we use for everything... except I've never seen it used as a chef's cape.

So Wednesday morning, we woke up on this Spring morning to THIS. This is not too outlandish for Utah Springs, except for the information in the next picture.

Jeff went on Connor's field trip to the Tulip Festival, a few hours later. But look how it cleared up!!!

Only in Utah County, can you go on a school-sanctioned field trip to a place that openly depicts statues of Christ,

AND THE FIRST VISION:

After school... !!!

And another !!!! moment was Morgan showing us how to CHANGE OUR GOSPEL LIBRARY ICON TO A LEGO ANGEL MORONI. The update available the next day fixed this fun little glitch!!! Dang. It. I wonder how that boss/employee discussion went, and if the employee is fired, reprimanded, put on probation? That was a beautiful day for a little while.

That night, the TeaMaids (we're starting to combine age groups instead of as many activities with ALL the Mutual, because we have 150 youth. So TeaMaids, Beacons, Plaurels) had a pool party. Connor would have been home alone, so this was his obvious choice of activities. Connor:

And Derek:

Carlie & Morgan had an etiquette dinner together. Don't know if you can see our superstars, but they had a good time, learning the manners & eating good food. =)

The Beacons went to Phat Axe, and threw axes. This is not generally a good idea with 12 year old boys & girls. But the leaders said it went pretty smooth, and that Halle & Kierste got it faster than the other girls, sinking their axes into the back drop better than anyone else. Here's Kierste throwing hers, perfectly framing Halle's face in the "beard" of the axe.

During the week sometime, Miranda & I finished our year-long quest of watching the Gilmore Girls series. Wow, those were quite the days... a lot of things happened in between all those episodes. And now it's over.

Since Carlie got her braces off, she decided she needed to whiten those pearlies. And we happen to have a teeth-whitening machine. What good is having one of those, if you can't get the epic pics of the mouth spreaders.

That night, Carlie was a TV star.

And guess what. We've been praying as a family for an opportunity to help the family we minister to. In our ward, our bishopric decided we would minister "family to family." So the sisters & men of one family minister to the sister & members of another family. We have the Robertsons. It seems like there is never anything to do except bring treats to them. And then Alex, the mom, graduated from UVU, and needed someone to watch the 4 year old during the ceremony.

So Friday, I kept HK&C home from school to help entertain him for 5 hours, and they did so great! He was so happy. I was so proud of my kids for how they ministered to their family.

Ok. I go to Orange Theory to workout. It's a really hard workout every time, and I resent the fact that apparently, my phone thinks that every day about 9:30, I go to Burger King, because as I drive down the driveway, this is the prompt is has started giving me.

That night, Miranda & I went to Taylor (& Kelly) Barton's reception in Bountiful. Taylor has been such a good wardie friend to Miranda, and I'm especially grateful for him this last school year. He treated Miranda like she was a normal person going through something really hard. He showed her that she has friends. He went to football games, invited her to play cards, and took her to Homecoming with him. They wore the same dress/bowtie that they did for Homecoming his senior/ Miranda's junior year. I love the Barton family, and I'm so thankful for Taylor's goodness and friendship to our family. So happy for him & Kelly. Plus, he's working for XOnano, so Jeff & I might get to see more of him than the rest of our ward. =)

Saturday,

Or even cuter,

And a cute picture of Morgan's hairy legs.

And Kate, my niece who was in a terrible car accident last December, was baptized! We went down to Mapleton to be with them, pretty much all day. We had all the talks and confirmation on the stage, which was interesting and fun.

We went back to their house and had a waffle extravaganza

With some basketball,

And volleyball.

My mom's sister Jana was with her this week, attending Women's Conference at BYU, and I'm so glad she came to the baptism. =)

While we stayed and played, MIranda & Carlie went to the You know What,

And the mall. Carlie needs clothes for her Senior Pictures on Monday! Ironman themed vehicle in the mall. Miranda may or may not want/covet it. I think she thinks this picture will make it happen for maybe a birthday present or something. We'll work on it. She's hopeful. Ha!

That night, Jeff & I went out with our friends, Kristen & Cory, for Jeff's birthday, our anniversary (tomorrow) and Cory's bday. The food was pretty much to die for. =)

And from Carlie, her happenings for the night:

Today, el Cinco de Mayo, Jeff & I have been married for TWENTY FOUR YEARS. That's a lot. But wow, I wouldn't rather take this life roller coaster with anyone else. We're a united team that can conquer anything {knock on wood}.

We were BABIES.

My daddy

And now we're not babies.

But look what we've created together.

These are our life's treasures. Nothing is more important to us.

Tonight, we celebrated Jack's (Alex & Natalie's) 7th bday at Carol & Winn's.

The Lego set Connor picked out, and immediately started putting together with Jack after this picture. They have plans to finish it at Jack's house on Tuesday.